Kevin: “who would have guessed six months ago that we would
be sitting here today hand making jewelry out of pottery with a group of Nicaraguan
high schoolers?”
Here in Nicaragua, I’m living in a town of artisans. My small business youth group has decided to
use the resources of their town to create their project for our small business
competition. We spent the afternoon
working on our prototype while snacking on a bag full of fresh bread from the
corner store and listening to backstreet boys on one of our student’s cell
phones.
While a group of the kids sat in an empty classroom trying to hand drill small holes through pieces of broken pottery, the other group of kids and I walked around town to visit a handful of artisans to ask them to donate broken pottery to our project. While walking from home to home of different artisans, we ended up going to the home of one of my students. We have 11 students in our youth group but 4 of them are our all star kids. One of them has stuck out from the first day. He is teaching himself English and is well on his way to fluency. I am extremely impressed by his intelligence, drive and bubbly personality.
Walking through our town we made a right-hand turn down this tiny dirt path I’ve probably passed a dozen times and never noticed. I started realizing that this little slippery dirt path goes a long way back. Before I know it I am passing shacks on the left and the right and I realize I am in a part of town I didn’t even know existed. The poverty back here just took my breath away and literally made my stomach hurt. These people are my neighbors. I was in shock. This is where my all star student lives? He comes to school every day put together, clean and with his homework completed and this is his home? The people here are generally poor but these houses took poverty to a whole new level. I’ve spent 6 weeks working with this kid, I had no idea. How in the world does he live back here? We finally arrive at his home, a structure with no doors; just cement openings into a one room ‘house’ with dirt floors. A curtain separates the single ‘bedroom’ from the rest of the house. There is no bathroom, no kitchen. His parents happily invite us in through the door less entryway and they give us tools and pottery to use for our project. After showing interest in the pottery making process, the dad jumps into his spinning wheel, starts spinning the wheel with his foot, takes a clump of clay and in less than three minutes forms a gorgeous vase with his bare hands. It was simply amazing. I made him promise to teach me how to make pottery. He said it would be his pleasure and that I am welcomed to return any day to learn. I asked him if he was serious and then promised to return soon. I am definitely going to take him up on his offer. This place amazes me every single day.
While a group of the kids sat in an empty classroom trying to hand drill small holes through pieces of broken pottery, the other group of kids and I walked around town to visit a handful of artisans to ask them to donate broken pottery to our project. While walking from home to home of different artisans, we ended up going to the home of one of my students. We have 11 students in our youth group but 4 of them are our all star kids. One of them has stuck out from the first day. He is teaching himself English and is well on his way to fluency. I am extremely impressed by his intelligence, drive and bubbly personality.
 |
| Walking around San Juan soliciting ceramic donations from local artisans |
Walking through our town we made a right-hand turn down this tiny dirt path I’ve probably passed a dozen times and never noticed. I started realizing that this little slippery dirt path goes a long way back. Before I know it I am passing shacks on the left and the right and I realize I am in a part of town I didn’t even know existed. The poverty back here just took my breath away and literally made my stomach hurt. These people are my neighbors. I was in shock. This is where my all star student lives? He comes to school every day put together, clean and with his homework completed and this is his home? The people here are generally poor but these houses took poverty to a whole new level. I’ve spent 6 weeks working with this kid, I had no idea. How in the world does he live back here? We finally arrive at his home, a structure with no doors; just cement openings into a one room ‘house’ with dirt floors. A curtain separates the single ‘bedroom’ from the rest of the house. There is no bathroom, no kitchen. His parents happily invite us in through the door less entryway and they give us tools and pottery to use for our project. After showing interest in the pottery making process, the dad jumps into his spinning wheel, starts spinning the wheel with his foot, takes a clump of clay and in less than three minutes forms a gorgeous vase with his bare hands. It was simply amazing. I made him promise to teach me how to make pottery. He said it would be his pleasure and that I am welcomed to return any day to learn. I asked him if he was serious and then promised to return soon. I am definitely going to take him up on his offer. This place amazes me every single day.
No comments:
Post a Comment